In a statement yesterday, IHS said that over the next decade, the Asia Pacific is forecast to be the fastest growing region of the global economy and the region that offers the biggest potential gains for FDI.

“The Asia Pacific region will grow at an average annual rate of 4.5% per year, boosted by rapid growth in consumer spending in China, India and South-East Asia,” said IHS chief economist Asia Pacific Rajiv Biswas.

Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand are also expected to join the ranks of Asian nations with a Gross Domestic Product exceeding US$1 trillion by 2030.

“This will help to increase the geopolitical and economic importance of Asean and economic grouping in international diplomacy and the global dialogue on trade, investment and international standards-setting,” said.

IHS said that South-East Asia is expected to be one of the world’s fastest growing regions with these four Asean nations.

Referring to Malaysia as Asia’s next advanced economy, the IHS report said that Malaysia’s economy is forecast to achieve a per capita GDP of US$20,000 by 2025, with total GDP exceeding US$1 trillion by 2030.

Biswas pointed out that the structure of the Malaysian economy will continue to shift towards higher value-added manufacturing and services.

“Strategic growth industries in the services sector will include financial services, healthcare, education, commercial aviation, tourism and the IT-Business Process Outsourcing industry, as Malaysia becomes an increasingly important services, services-exporting economy for South-East Asia,” said Biswas.

Indonesia’s GDP is forecast to grow at 5% per year over 2016-2020, supported by strong growth in consumer demand and infrastructure investment, he added.

The Philippines, he said, has shown rapid GDP growth averaging at around six per cent per year over 2011-2015, with GDP growth of 5.8 per cent per year forecast over 2016-2018.

Meanwhile, the Asean frontier markets of Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos are forecast to continue to grow rapidly.

The IHS study showed that Vietnam will grow at a pace of around 6.5% per year over the medium term, with rapid growth in manufacturing exports of electronics and garments driving industrial development. – Bernama